South African players to miss first five games of IPL 2023 due to Netherlands ODIs

All Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises will be without the services of key South African national players for the first five games of the competition (March 31 - April 02) due to the Proteas’ must-win ODI series against the Netherlands that starts on March 31st. 

Currently placed ninth in the ODI Super League standings, South Africa need to win both their ODIs against the Netherlands in order to give themselves the best chance of directly qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. As things stand, they have 78 points but both Sri Lanka (77) and Ireland (68) breathing down their neck means that South Africa dropping more points will put their hopes of direct qualification in real jeopardy.

Cricket South Africa (CSA), therefore, are expected to name a full-strength squad for the two-match series.

In that case, a handful of franchises will be affected with Sunrisers Hyderabad, who last month named Aiden Markram as the side’s skipper, being the worst-hit. Not only will SRH be without their skipper, they will also be without both Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen. 

Punjab Kings (Kagiso Rabada), Delhi Capitals (Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi), Gujarat Titans (David Miller) and Lucknow Super Giants (Quinton de Kock) will all also be affected.

Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings will kick-start the 2023 edition of the IPL on March 31st at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.